Sticking Close to Home
by FaithInHim4ever
Summary: When the Queen holds her first ever Thanksgiving celebration, an event occurs concerning Alice that makes Her Majesty grateful for what's most important. R/R
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: We DO NOT own any chars from AIW. They belong to Disney. If we did, the Tweedles would have a record deal and the Cheshire Cat would have joined the Wonderland circus as a traveling act. The only character I own is Alicen Sierra Kimberly Miller and her family.

A/N: In this story, my Alice is twelve and Sammie is eight.

"Sticking Close to Home"

Chapter 1-A Glue Like No Other

Twelve-year-old Alicen Sierra Kimberly Miller, Alice, ducked behind the Hatter's attic door in an effort not to laugh at her friend's attempts at making a center piece for the upcoming Thanksgiving festival the Queen was throwing.

"So Alice, what do you think of this?" Hatter asked. He held up his unfinished master piece as though it were something out of Wonderland Home Design.

Before Alice could answer, another voice did it for her.

"If you want my opinion, I think it's purrrfect. But unfortunately," the Cheshire cat said, turning his gaze upon the pre-teen, "your mother says no cats allowed at the festival."

"What did you do this time?" She asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

The cat faked a wounded expression.

"Me? Cause a catastrophe? Not this kitty."

Rolling her eyes, Alice turned back to Hatter's for mentioned work in progress.

"I don't mean to sound judgmental, Mr. Hatta," she started delicately, "but the last time I checked, center pieces didn't have a turkey wearing a sombrero on them."

Hatter frowned.

"So I guess the sunglasses are out too, huh?" He asked.

"I'm afraid so." She said.

"Besides," the cat chimed in, "I think they look better on me anyway."

"They're not Rose colored glasses." She told him.

"Maybe if the Queen tried them on again, she would see inviting me to the celebration in a whole new light."

"If coming means that much to you," she said resignedly, "I guess I could try to persuade Mom into changing her mind."

"Would you really do that for me?" He asked.

Hare chose that moment to enter the room.

To no one's surprise, he was lugging something big behind him. The thing looked like something that had jumped out of a badly directed Halloween movie.

"What in Wondaland is that?" Alice asked. She eyed the model suspiciously.

"Isn't it obvious." Hare asked.

"Uh no." She replied.

"It's a pilgrim."

"That's the strangest looking Pilgrim I've eva seen."

"I'm with Alice." Hatter said. He got a thoughtful look on his face. "Actually, I have seen stranger. Remember that time we went bird watching and accidentally aimed the binoculars the wrong way."

Hare nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yeah. The Queen wouldn't let us near her bird bath for a month."

"Till this day, I still don't know what went wrong."

Before they could go any further, the sound of dishes hitting the floor brought them back to attention.

"It wasn't me this time." The Cat said gleefully. "I'm as innocent as a newborn kitten."

"Dinah!" Alice scolded gently. "What are you doing in there? That's no place for you. Get out of there." With that, she extracted her faithful calico cat from the confines of one of the many cabinets that Hatter used to keep his tea pots.

Dinah meowed as though to ask Alice why she had spoiled her fun.

"I know what you mean." The Cheshire Cat told her. "They're always ruining my fun too. And just when it gets going."

Picking Dinah up, Alice headed for the door.

Before she left, Hatter stopped her. He held out a tube that resembled nail polish.

Knowing her friend all too well and knowing her second home wasn't all that it seemed sometimes, Alice braced herself for anything.

"What's this?" She asked. "I know I said I ran out of nail polish, but I bought some yesterday."

Hare laughed at her statement.

"Nail polish!"

"Oh no, no, no. This isn't nail polish."

Alice gave him a look he knew only too well. But being the Hatter, and even he had seen her give him this look several times before, he acted as though she hadn't.

"She means if it's not nail polish," The Cheshire Cat said, "Then what is it?"

"Oh! Then why didn't you just say so in the first place?" He asked.

Alice rolled her eyes.

"What you hold in the palm of your hand is my newest creation."

The look on Alice's face must have suggested alarm because Hare spoke up just then.

"Don't worry. I was there when he made this. It's harmless."

"How true that is." Hatter said.

Alice had half a mind to contradict him, but she didn't.

"Now where was I?" Hatter asked.

"Well, you were standing over there and I think you were about to pour yourself a cup of tea and then Alice asked a question. I'm not sure how important it was and then…"

"Hello! I'm still here." Alice informed them.

"Would you like some tea too?" Hatter offered.

Alice shook her head. She sighed exasperatedly while trying to muster up the little patience she had left.

"What is this stuff supposed to do? What did you invent it for?"

"This stuff is a work of art." Hatter began.

Hare gave his best friend a confused look.

"I thought it was your first ever invisible super glue?"

"Invisible super glue? Mr. Hatta, what are you up to now?"

"Invisible." The Cheshire Cat spoke up. "Now that's something I know a lot about. You may even say I'm an expert."

"Why don't you show us a thing or two?" Alice suggested pointedly.

"I think she wants you to leave." Hare told him.

The Cheshire Cat disappeared. As he left, they heard him mumble something that sounded suspiciously like, "Like mother, like daughter."

Not wasting any time, Alice rounded on her two friends.

"What does the super glue do? And why does Mom want it? What makes it so special? It' seems like ordinary glue to me."

"Alice, Alice, Alice…" Hatter said as though he were explaining the wonders of the world for the first time. "You've lived here for the last eight years and you haven't learned yet?"

"Learned what?" She asked.

"Nothing here is ordinary!" The two friends said in unison.

"In fact, it's extra ordinary. Extra being a pre-fix meaning more than." Hare chimed in.

"Okay, okay. You've made your point. Now, what does it do?"

"She wants to know what it does." Hare said.

"We could tell her." Hatter replied. "But where's the fun in that?"

Hare nodded.

"Let's show her instead!"

Taking an extra tube out of his pocket, Hatter applied it to one of the many stained glass cups around the room.

Alice watched in fascination as the cup's surface became as clean as a whistle.

"The stain's gone!" She exclaimed in awe.

"Of course it is." Hatter said. "With my super invisible glue, Wonderland will never see another stain again."

"And the Queen naturally wanted to be the first person to try it. Apparently, Rabbit hasn't found a cleaning product strong enough to clean the Queen's prized china."

"I didn't know china could win prizes." Hare said. "What kind of contest did her Majesty enter it in?"

"Not prized as in winning something. Prized as in expensive and rare. And we all know how much the Queen likes expensive and rare things."

"So is this tube for the Queen to try?" Alice asked. She then shifted Dinah to her other arm as the cat tried to sniff the contents of the tube.

"Yes indeedy do." Hatter replied. "I wanna see if it'll do as good of a job as it did on my cups. And if she likes it, who knows where it might lead."

"Hey, since it worked so well on the cup, why don't we try it on that old mirror in the forest." Hare suggested. "It's looking in need of a clean up."

Since Alice was halfway down the stairs, she didn't hear the Hare's suggestion or Hatter's agreement. If she had, she maybe could have prevented what was to come…

Unbeknownst to the two friends, they were being overheard by none other than the Cheshire Cat.

Grinning mischievously to himself, he disappeared. He was waiting for just the right moment to make his move.

Shaking her head, Alice made her way back home to the palace…

Meanwhile at the palace, the Queen was trying on a set of new robes that she wanted to wear for the festival. She had never hosted or been to a Thanksgiving festival before. And she wanted to look her best. After all, she was the Queen.

"How does that feel, You're Majesty?" Rabbit asked. He stepped back to admire his handiwork and almost crashed into the table that was half decorated for the festival.

Before the Queen could answer, they were joined by the Walrus and his invisible friend, Penapid.

"Aah, You're Majesty, just the Queen we were hoping to see."

The Queen gave him a look.

"I would certainly hope so. Since I'm the only Queen here."

Ignoring her answer, the Walrus continued.

"Penapid and I were hoping to help with the plans for the Thanksgiving festival. Is there anything we could do?"

"You could start by sorting through those lovely pictures of me on the coffee table over there."

"If we may ask," he said. "Why so many?"

The Queen looked as though the Walrus should have known the answer.

"Why shouldn't there be? After all, they're pictures of me. And anyway, I Thought they would make wonderful place cards. What better way to find your seat than to be greeted by a picture of my beautiful face."

"I could think of a few."

"What was that?"

"I meant I could think of a few ways to make them look even more royal than they do."

Before Rabbit could get himself any closer to the fire pot, Alice walked in.

"Hello my dear." The Walrus greeted. Alice was one of his favorite people.

"Hi Mr. Walrus." Alice replied. She set Dinah down and the cat ran straight for the table.

Before she got very far, the Walrus picked her up.

"That's no place for you." He said only half seriously. "The Queen would have your tail."

The Queen huffed at his statement.

"I could think of another certain feline whose on my bad list right now."

"Did someone call my name?"

Alice tried not to groan. She didn't want to be rude, but she had left Hatter and Hare's with the understanding that she would get some peace and quiet.

"No I didn't." The Queen retorted. "Now scat! Get out of here."

"You don't really mean that." He said. HE flashed her a wide smile before turning his attention to the Walrus. "I was wondering where Pennapid got off to. We were playing hide and seek in the forest and he just took off."

Wanting to change the subject, Alice held her right hand out palm up.

"Mr. Hatter gave this to me for you." She said, turning to her mother. "He said you wanted to try it?"

"Thank you, my dear." The Queen said. She took the tube from her daughter's hand as if it was an early Christmas gift. "I'll finally have china worth using at the festival. Then again, knowing who invented this makes me wonder if I should even try it."

Alice spoke up in her friend and father figure's defense.

"You're Majesty, it really works. I saw it with my own eyes. And then…well. Or should I say, I didn't' see it."

"What do you mean?" The Queen asked, rounding on her. "How can you see something and then not see it? It's impossible."

"Actually, You're Majesty," spoke up the Walrus. "It's not that impossible. Just ask Penapid. He's living proof of it every day. In fact, he's getting so good, he might be hired as the next act in the Wonderland circus."

"OH hurumph! What does the circus have to do with cleaning my china?"

Nobody answered.

"Rabbit." The Queen ordered after a minute or so. "I order you to get to work right away. Make sure all the china is clean by dinner time. If I find one spec of dirt on any plate or cup, it'll be your whiskers."

"Yes You're Majesty." Rabbit replied. "Right away." With that, he took the tube from her and left.

"Maybe I should help him." Alice suggested.

"Don't you have a math test to study for?" The Queen asked.

Alice sighed.

"I guess you're right. See ya later, Mr. Walrus. Bye Penapid."

By the time dinner was served that night, you never would have known the china was dirty. No spec of dust or dirt could be found.

The Queen was so pleased, she called Hatter right away and asked him to make her another batch.

She then instructed the Tweedles to help clean all the glass surfaces in the palace.

Alice volunteered to help right away. She always had fun when she hung out with her older brothers.

"You know the Queen seems a little crabbier than usual." Dee observed.

"How can you tell?" Dum asked, making Alice giggle.

Dee gave his brother a look.

"You have a point."

"Come on you guys. Mom wants this done by lunchtime."

"She didn't' specifically say lunchtime today." Dum observed.

"Hey, you're right." Dee chimed in. He grinned in the way that told Alice she was in for a good time.

The three worked for the next few hours, playing around along the way.

Little did they know they were getting some unwanted help…


	2. Chapter 2Home for the Holidays

DISCLAIMER: We DO NOT own any chars from AIW. They belong to Disney. If we did, the Tweedles would have a record deal and the Cheshire Cat would have joined the Wonderland circus as a traveling act. The only character I own is Alicen Sierra Kimberly Miller and her family.

A/N: Here's the next chapter! I hope everyone likes it!

"Sticking Close to Home"

Chapter 2-Home for the Holidays

While Alice and the Tweedles continued their task given to them by the Queen, a furry friend was about to lend a helping paw of his own.

Making sure nobody was in sight, the Cheshire Cat appeared near the Hatter's tea table. He had placed a freshly made tube of invisible super glue upon its surface. If only the Cat had known that the glue still had some kinks to work out, he wouldn't have gone through with it. But then again, maybe he would. After all, he did enjoy playing tricks on people. After all, he was only trying to help in this case.

Snatching the tube into his fore paws, he disappeared.

Reappearing in the forest, he observed the spaces in which the glue could be used.

Spotting something big and glassy ahead of him, he went for it.

The glass surface of this object was immensely dirty. Finger prints and hand prints covered it from top to bottom.

For a minute, the cat wondered why or how this object had become so dirty in the first place. He had never seen something so dirty in his whole nine lives.

Come to think of it, he had passed this mirror many times before, but had never given it a second thought. He didn't even know who it belonged to. Maybe it didn't belong to anyone. Whatever the case, it was about to get a fairly overdue cleaning.

"Purrfect." He said as he opened the tube. "Soon this mirror will be spotless." With that, he went to work.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Alice asked. She was in the Hatter's attic, helping him go through stuff that would make a good center piece.

"Of course he knows what he's doing." Hare said. "He always knows what he's doing. What are you doing?"

Hatter gave him an obvious look.

"I'm trying to find the perfect center piece."

"You can't find the center piece." Alice said, almost giggling. "You have to make it."

"Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

"I think she did." Hare pointed out.

"Are you sure?" Hatter asked.

"I'm pretty sure."

Alice sighed in an effort not to yell in frustration.

"Okay. The center piece is the most important decoration of Thanksgiving."

"Even more important than the Pilgrims?"

"In this case, yeah. And since the Queen is the one hosting the festival, I would say the center piece is the most important part."

"What about the Pilgrims?" Hare asked.

Alice looked ceilingward as though asking for patience.

"Forget about the Pilgrims for now. Better yet, forget I even mentioned them."

The Dormouse popped out of his teapot just then.

"Do we have to forget them?" He asked. "I was just finishing up my Pilgrim costume."

Alice smiled despite herself.

"See?" He asked. He brought it out for Alice to examine.

"It's perfect." She said approvingly.

"Thanks!" With that, he went back inside.

"Now that the whole Pilgrim thing is sorted out, let's focus on the center piece. It needs to have turkeys and maybe a few pumpkins."

"Alice." Hare spoke up. "I thought this was Thanksgiving, not Halloween."

"Oy." Alice mumbled to herself. She could tell it was going to be a long day…

Two days later, Alice was standing in her room at the palace. She was dressed in a comfortable yet dressy outfit. The reason was special too. She was going to her Grandmother's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with her and her little sister, Sammie. SHE had been looking forward to this for awhile.

The Queen wasn't holding their celebration until two days later.

Alice would be leaving on a Wednesday and returning on Friday.

"Do you have everything?" Rabbit asked. He was always one to be nervous about Alice's short absences from the palace.

"I think so." Alice said.

Rabbit nodded. He was really going to miss his young friend.

Now that Alice lived there, it was strange when she wasn't around.

"Now you're sure you have everything." He asked again.

"Mr. Rabbit, I'm sure." Alice replied. "I promise."

"What about your phone?" He asked. He knew the pre-teen girl was hardly ever seen without her hot pink and blue cell phone that the Queen had bought for her when she was ten.

"Actually, I don't." She said.

Rabbit gasped as though Alice had said something unthinkable.

Seeing the stricken look on her friend's face, Alice hastened to explain.

"It was acting strange, so I left it with Mr. Hatter so he could fix it."

"Why didn't you just give it to the Tweedles?" He asked. "Anyone but Hatter."

"Mr. Rabbit, come on. Mr. Hatter isn't that…well…well…maybe I could go and get it and give it to Dee before I leave."

"Good idea." Rabbit agreed. "For all you know, you may get your phone back and the language could be changed to French or it could start playing polka music whenever it rings."

Alice giggled. She could think of more possibilities with her phone in the Hatter's hands. But each of them seemed more outrageous than the last.

Shaking her head, she left to say good bye to her mother and brothers before taking off.

"Rabbit's right, Alie," Dee said. "Me, Dum, The Cheshire Cat, anyone but the Hatter."

"Not that the Hatter doesn't have good ideas once in awhile." Dum spoke up. "It's just they seem to take on a life of their own once they leave his head."

Dee chuckled, which made both Dum and Alice start.

After she said good bye to the Queen, she left the palace and headed for the mirror.

As she opened the door, she found it was stuck.

"What in Wondaland…" With that, she pulled hard and managed to cross safely to the other side.

Little did she know it wouldn't be that easy going back home…

When Alice arrived home, she was greeted by a very happy Sammie.

The eight-year-old threw her arms around her big sister's waist, obviously very happy to have her home again.

"I missed you!" She said. "Can I visit Wonderland the next time you go?"

"Sure." Alice replied. "I'll bring you next weekend when the Queen throws her annual thanks a lot celebration."

"Thanks a lot celebration? What's that?"

"I'll tell you all about it tonight before bed."

"Cool! Come on!" She said. "Gran's getting the table ready. She wanted us to help." With that, Alice put her things near her bed and followed her sister downstairs.

When her grandmother saw her, she gave her a big hug. She had missed her also.

"You've gotten taller." Gran told her. "Has the Queen been feeding you vegetable casserole again?"

Alice giggled.

"No. But I have been getting a lot of exercise playing softball with the Tweedles and taking hikes with Hatter and Hare on the out skirts of Wondaland in search of different stuff."

Gran nodded.

"Yeah." Sammie chimed in. "Once Uncle Hatter dug up this really strange looking statue and it came to life!"

"You like that story, don't you?" Alice asked her sister. She hadn't been there during that time, but Alice had relayed the tale to her many times.

"Uh-huh. Look at this!" She exclaimed. "I made it in school for the table!"

Grinning, Sammie held up a piece of artwork that looked like a turkey dining with some Indians during the first Thanksgiving.

Alice tried to hide a smile. Her little sister was pretty cute.

"It's different." She said honestly. "I think it'll look great on the table."

Sammie nodded.

Before Alice knew it, she was sitting at the table with her sister, Aunt Alyssa, her little cousin, Rebecca and their grandmother. They had already said grace and now it was time to dig in.

The food was wonderful and Alice even had seconds. She and Sammie talked about things that had happened in Wonderland among other things. They also asked Gran what was going on in her life.

Gran told them how her job at the jewelry making business was going and she asked Alice some questions about her life in Wonderland.

It wasn't long before they were relaxing by the fireplace after eating some apple and pumpkin pie.

"Do you wanna play Clue with me, Alice?" Sammie asked hopefully.

Alice thought for a moment before nodding. She missed playing games with her younger sister.

Alyssa and Rebecca had left by this time. They had somewhere else to go in the morning and they had to be up rather early.

After the girls had played three games in a row, Sammie started to yawn.

"I think it's time for a certain little one to go to bed." Gran said with a loving smile.

Sammie gave her grandmother a hopeful look, but she knew there was no getting around it. The Queen was the same way about bedtime whenever she stayed in Wonderland.

Sighing heavily, Sammie let Alice lead her upstairs to get ready for bed.

After Alice bathed her, she tucked her little sister in bed and sung her a few of her favorite songs she had sung in Wonderland. She also told her a story.

After Sammie was half asleep, Alice went back downstairs to spend time with her grandmother. She had really missed spending time with her.

Reaching the bottom landing, Alice found her grandmother sipping a cup of tea in the living room. She was also reading a book.

She smiled when her eldest granddaughter entered the room.

"Come and join me, sweetheart." She offered. She patted a spot next to her on the couch.

Alice obliged happily. She grinned as her grandmother put her arm around her and hugged her close. She planted a kiss on Alice's head before putting a hand through her hair.

"I've missed having you home." She told her sincerely. "I love having your sister here, don't get me wrong. It's just I miss having both of my girls with me."

"I've missed you too." Alice said. "I love it in Wondaland and the Queen is great. She's the best Mom I could have ever asked for. The Tweedles are great big brothers and as for a father figure, the Hatter is amazing. But I miss it here too sometimes. I definitely have to come back more often to visit. I promise I'll try and visit a little more."

"I'd really like that, sweetie." Gran told her.

Grandmother and eldest granddaughter sat and talked for the next two hours. It was nice and comfortable.

A little before eleven, Alice realized she was getting tired herself. She gave her grandmother a kiss and hug good night and went to bed.

Entering her room, she almost went straight over to her mirror and entered it, but then stopped. She remembered she was staying here for two more days.

As she got into bed twenty minutes later, she grinned as she thought of what she was going to do for the next two days.

She wanted to invite Megan over to hang out and maybe go to a movie. She also knew Sammie would want to play with Molly. Molly was Megan's youngest sister and Sammie's best friend.

As these fun thoughts among others spun around in Alice's mind, she lay down and prepared herself for sleep.

Just before drifting off, Alice pet Dinah's head.

"Night, Dinah. I Love you." With that, she was in dreamland…


	3. Chapter 3Trapped and a Rescue Plan

DISCLAIMER: We DO NOT own any chars from AIW. They belong to Disney. If we did, the Tweedles would have a record deal and the Cheshire Cat would have joined the Wonderland circus as a traveling act. The only character I own is Alicen Sierra Kimberly Miller and her family.

A/N: Okay. I hope you guys are ready for this next chapter because the story is def going to pick up speed!

"Sticking Close to Home"

Chapter 3-Trapped and a Rescue Plan

Alice awoke the next morning a little disoriented. She wasn't sure where she was at first. It wasn't until Sammie came into her room, did she remember where she was. She wasn't in Wonderland anymore. She was back at her Grandmother's house. She was spending the next two days here.

As her mind came back to the present, she smiled.

After getting ready, Alice joined Gran and Sammie for breakfast.

As the young girl dug into her Grandmother's French toast, Gran posed a question to her.

"So what are you up to for today?"

Alice almost said she was going to Wonderland, but remembered what her original plans had been.

"I'm gonna call Megan to see what she's doing. Maybe we'll go to the movies."

Gran smiled.

"That sounds like fun."

Once the breakfast dishes were taken care of, Alice went back upstairs and dialed her best friend's number.

Julie, Megan's younger sister answered on the second ring.

"Hi, Julie. It's Alice. Is Megan around?"

"No. She went to Ponyland for the day. She and Molly are staying there for the day. I'm going with Charlotte to a carnival. That's why I didn't go. I'll tell her to call you when she gets back."

"Thanks, Jules. Do you know when she's getting back?"

"They should be back by six or so."

"Okay. Talk to you later." With that, Alice hung up.

Dinah gave her a concerned look.

"Well there goes plan A, Dinah." She said with a sigh. "Now what am I gonna do?"

She thought of calling Julie back and asking her to use her Rainbow to get Firefly to come down and take her up to Ponyland for the day. She knew the pink pegasus would do it in a heartbeat. At least then she would be with Megan and have something to do.

But as quickly as the idea had come, it vanished. She really didn't' feel like going to Ponyland today anyway. She wanted to spend time with her best friend here. But that wouldn't happen for another four hours at least. She had to find something to do until then. The question was what?

It was then that the idea came to her. She didn't know why she hadn't thought about it before.

Smiling to herself, she picked up the phone and dialed another number. She had a few other friends other than Megan who lived here. She just hoped they were home.

Before Alice knew it, the next two days had flown by. She had spent time with Megan, along with a few other friends she had here. They had gone to the movies and roller skating. They had even gone to see a new play performed at Alice's old school. That had been a lot of fun. The young girl had seen people she knew and they were happy to see her.

It wasn't long before it was time to return to Wonderland. She was looking forward to it, but she was going to miss her grandmother and little sister. She was also going to miss her friends, Megan especially. The girls made plans for Alice to either go to Ponyland sometime or for Megan to visit her in Wonderland again. She had been there a few times before and the Queen had welcomed her warmly.

After Alice promised Sammie she would pick her up next weekend and promised to call and e-mail her, she gave Gran a hug and kiss, followed by Sammie before leaving the same way she had come.

"Well Dinah, I guess this is it. Home sweet home again." She smiled as she said this. She had really missed her family in Wonderland. She had especially missed her mother and the Tweedles as well as Hatter.

But as she entered her mirror, something strange happened. She didn't feel the same slightly sliding sensation she always did when entering her second and now permanent home. Instead of the familiar feeling, she felt as though she had come to a sudden stop. The question was why?

As Alice took a step forward to try again, she took a deep breath in an effort to remain calm. She could figure this out. She was a level headed girl.

Taking another deep breath, Alice turned around, all intensions of re entering her room and trying again.

But as she went to do so, she found she was stuck!

Now she was starting to panic. What was going on?

Making a last ditch effort to return home, Alice made a run for the door that lead into Wonderland, but to her growing horror, it wouldn't budge.

Setting Dinah's carrier down upon the ground, Alice sighed. If one thing was for sure, it was that she was in big trouble. She only hoped her family and friends in Wonderland would notice something was wrong and find a way to rescue her. The only question was, how long would it take?

"I guess we're stuck here until someone realizes something's wrong." Alice told Dinah. With that, she sat upon the ground in the little space she had and tried to think of a way out of her current predicament.

After a while, Alice could no longer tell how long she had spent inside the mirror. It could have been minutes, hours, or possibly even days. All she knew was that something very unusual was going on.

She felt as if she was dreaming, although she was in fact, wide awake. She was hallucinating, and the images that were flashing through her mind left her nervous and confused.

Her mind's eye was assaulted with a confusing jumble of images, showing scenes from different points in her life.

Pictures and memories of her grandmother, mother, aunt and younger sister flashed through her mind, alternating with those of the queen, hatter, hare, and all of her friends and second family in Wonderland.

She recalled her biological mother's abandonment of her, and her feelings of loneliness, despite her aunt's and grandmother's loving care.

Then she thought of Wonderland, the queen who had adopted her, and all the wonderful friends she had made there. Things weren't always perfect in Wonderland, however. She thought about the times the queen had scolded or grounded her, times when she had had disagreements with the Tweedles and other Wonderland inhabitants, and once or twice when she had been injured or nearly so by one of the hatter's crazy inventions.

Pictures of the hatter in various memories passed before her eyes. She saw him, and even thought she heard his voice at times, telling her or Sammy a story, joking with the hare, or singing the praises of some machine he had created, or tea he had concocted.

She saw scenes of him wielding some outrageous contraption, proclaiming to the queen that he was her royal something or other, and that he was there to serve.

The more Alice saw, the more she realized how ridiculous the hatter looked in these situations. And all that music! How could anyone ever think to get any work done, or hope to make any sense at all if all they did was sing! It was enough to drive anyone mad! But wait, if she was the one thinking of all this, did that mean she was mad? Alice couldn't tell what was right anymore.

While one part of her brain pondered this, another part was still plagued with images of her double life.

Her earlier life with her biological family had not been entirely pleasant, it was true, but it not been all bad either. She remembered her grandmother taking her and Sammie to the zoo, the park, and the counter fare.

She even remembered the time with her parents, back when she was very young, and before her parents separated. She remembered how nice it felt to sit in her mother's lap and listen to stories, or be lifted into the air and twirled around by her father.

But then both in her life and in her flood of memories, the fighting started.

At first it was only occasional arguments between her parents, but these quickly escalated into horrendous bouts of shouting, swearing, and often the sound of her mother crying.

Alice saw the form of a little girl, herself, lying shivering in bed, the all too clear sounds of yet another shouting match reaching her frightened ears.

Just when it seemed like she couldn't take anymore of the pain and fear, the welcome sights, sounds and emotions of Wonderland entered her mind again.

The voices of her friends, the smell of crumpets baking, and the image of her friends filling her adopted mother's palace made Alice, trapped back in her tiny space between her two homes, nearly cry with both relief and exhaustion.

Perhaps it was because of this mental exhaustion forcing her to let her guard down, or perhaps it was inspire of it, that a memory started to surface that, in her stronger moments, she had fiercely suppressed.

Although she tried to keep the vision from rising, the all too familiar picture began to form in her mind of that parking lot outside the movie theater, on that traumatic day. That terrible day which had changed her life in such an unthinkable way, and which had haunted her nightmares ever since it had happened, was now playing out like a bad movie.

It was at this most crucial point in her life, that she discovered the true depth of the love that her Wonderland family held for her.

They had been there for her every step of the way, even though this experience was as new for them as it was for Alice herself. If it hadn't been for the queen, the Tweedles, and the others, Alice didn't think that she would have been able to work up the courage to recover from her emotional injuries, and to learn to trust people again.

It took a lot of time and patience, and sometimes she still felt a little unsure of herself and the people around her, but she had made a remarkable recovery with the help of her second family. Her grandmother had been there too, of course, but it was really the Wonderland gang that had been there for her the most.

Meanwhile, back in Wonderland, the Queen and the rest of the Wonderland gang were sitting around the dining room table about to start the Thanksgiving festival.

The table was decorated with red and gold turkeys and much to the Queen's chagrin, Hatter's center piece.

Although everyone agreed that it looked out of place with its sunglasses and sombrero, nobody said anything, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

As the turkey sat in the center of the table on a plate of gold with red trim, Rabbit glanced at the Queen in concern. She was just staring up at the clock as though waiting for something to happen. She hadn't even declared the festival officially begun.

"Pardon us for asking," the Walrus began. "But what's so fascinating about that old clock?"

"Yeah." Hare chimed in. "It doesn't even work anymore."

"Not since Alice and Dee busted it by accident while playing darts."

"Don't remind me." The Queen stated. "Alice lost her allowance for a month to pay for the damage. And after all that effort, it still didn't work."

"I thought it was kind of interesting when it started clucking like a chicken instead of chiming it's usual sound at the stroke of midnight." Hatter replied.

The Queen glared at him.

"Speaking of Alice," Dee continued. "Where is she? Shouldn't she have been back now?"

"Come to think of it. You're right." Rabbit said worriedly. "She was to be back hours ago. Do you think we should put the festival on hold until she gets here?"

The Queen nodded in agreement.

"I declare this festival postponed until further notice." She said officially.

"What are we gonna have for dinner then?" Hare wondered.

"I don't know about you guys," Dum suggested. "But I'm in the mood for pizza. Who wants Wonderland express?"

Almost everyone started saying things at once.

"Extra pepperoni." Came Hare's request.

"Extra mushrooms for Pinnepid." The Walrus chimed in.

"Extra pineapple and black olives." Dee said.

Everyone looked at him strangely.

"What? Alice turned me onto it. Ya'll should try it sometime."

Just then, the Dormouse made himself known.

"Extra cheese for me, please." He said before going back into his teapot.

After the orders were placed, everyone drifted to different parts of the palace until the food arrived.

Just as quickly as the gang had dispersed, they came together again a few minutes later.

They were all thinking the same thing.

Dum voiced it aloud.

"It's kind of strange around here without Alice." He said. He absentmindedly tossed a tennis ball up in the air and caught it again as he spoke.

"Dum's right." Dee agreed. "I hope she comes home soon."

After the pizza had arrived and everyone had gotten their fill, they left the palace and headed for their respective homes for the night.

However, they were in for a restless night indeed. The Queen especially.

Hatter, who couldn't sleep either, turned on the TV and settled on the Hat channel. He watched it until there was nothing else on except for infomercials about the best hat for your pets.

Switching off the TV Hatter decided to do the only other thing left when he couldn't sleep. Make tea.

Walking into the kitchen however, the teapot wasn't' the first thing to catch his eye.

Sitting on the table, his blue eyes landed on a rectangular object that was hot pink and blue in color.

Sitting down in one of his favorite chairs, he picked the cell phone up.

Turning it over in his hands, he examined it more closely. He had fixed what had to be fixed, but he had always wondered how Alice changed her ringtones.

Taking it upon himself to find out, he flipped the phone open and searched through the many menus until he got to what he thought was the right one.

As he continued to fiddle with it, the doorbell rang.

Putting down the phone, he went to answer the door.

Expecting to find Hare on the other side, he was surprised when he came face to face with the Walrus and Pinnepid. Well in Pinnepid's case, maybe not so much.

"We're sorry to disturb you this late." The Walrus apologized. "The Queen has sent me here to find you."

"What does the Queen want at this hour of the night?" He asked curiously.

"That's just it. She wouldn't say. All she said was to meet her in the forest in twenty minutes. Whoever was there, well…I hate to think what the consequences would be. It's a good thing Pinnepid is always on time."

Hatter raised his eyebrow, but didn't respond.

They picked up Hare along the way and before they knew it, had reached their designation.

"What is this meeting is all about?" Hatter asked the moment they were fully assembled. "Let me guess. You finally figured out how to make something other than toast."

The Queen ignored him.

Clearing her throat as she often did before giving an important royal speech or announcement, she began to speak.

"You're probably wondering why I've called you all here."

"How true that is." Hatter said in his standard way.

"Well, I'll tell you."

"Maybe we'll get home before the sun rises." Dum whispered to his brother.

"Hey! I heard that!"

Dum became silent, but then quickly signed something to Dee who nodded.

"As I was saying." She went on, eyeing the Tweedles. "As you all know, Alice was supposed to be back home earlier today. But she didn't return. And it's not like her to go back on her word. This could only mean thing."

"That aliens have abducted her and taken her away to their secret hide out run by highly intelligent chimps who work for banana cream pie?"

The Queen didn't even acknowledge his statement.

"It means something must be wrong. It's our job to figure out what it is."

"Our job?" Hatter repeated. "You mean you're actually going to get your hands dirty?"

"I know what you're thinking. And I wouldn't ordinarily do this for anyone else. But Alice isn't just anyone else. She's my daughter and a good friend to everyone here. She means a lot to me and I know everyone here feels the same way. So with that said, we need to break up into teams and try to figure out what happened and how to bring our Alice back home again."

Before anyone could start calling out who they wanted to be partners with, the Queen picked them herself.

After that was done, the harder part began….


End file.
